General

In the Buglass Family blog posts, we will show how one Northumbrian family’s story can be pieced together using various resources.  As well as focusing on family history, we will look at military history in the context of two members of a family who were directly involved in the First World War. The Buglass Collection, NRO 05944, was gifted to the Northumberland Collections Service in 2002.  The collection spans from 1862 to 1978 and comprises records such as letters, sale catalogues, newspaper cuttings, and financial records regarding the Buglass and Anderson families of Northumberland.

By looking at the 1901 Census, we can see that the family are listed as living at East Deanham – New Deanham had been mistakingly recorded. George was the head of the family, a farmer, born in Scotland.  His wife Elizabeth (or Lizzie) Buglass nee Anderson was born in Northumberland.  They had five children:

Andrew, 7 years, a Scholar, born in Kirkharle c.1894

George Anderson, 6 years, a Scholar, born in Kirkharle c.1895

Ralph, 4 years, born in Longhorsley c.1897

Thomas, 2 years, born in Longhorsley c.1899

Elizabeth Ellen, no age on the census, so presumably had just been born in Longhorsley.

Also living in the house are George Buglass’ parents, Andrew and Elizabeth, and there are three workers present at the farm – Isabella Monaghan, general servant; Joseph Johnson, cattleman; and John Gilmore, agricultural labourer.

 

 

This photograph, taken around 1907, shows Lizzie with three of her five children – George, Betty and Andrew – outside their family home at New Deanham.  But the Betty in the photograph is not the Elizabeth Ellen that we saw on the census.  We know from a memorial card in the collection that Elizabeth Ellen died at New Deanham ten days after the census was taken, on 10th April 1901, aged 13 months.

By the time the Buglass family came to occupy the New Deanham property, it formed part of the Bolam Estate owned by Lord Decies, an Irish baronet who owned property in England.  Prior to this it had formed part of the estates of the old Northumberland families of Loraine and Swinburne. An 1893 Inland Revenue Return from the Lord Decies estate papers contains information that was used to calculate death duties payable upon the estate.  The document reveals that the New Deanham property was a freehold and was, at the time of the return, in the tenure of Richard Maule.  The rental value of the properties referred to suggests that New Deanham was the most extensive of the properties.

Although the Buglass family lived in New Deanham from c.1901, they were freehold tenants until the farm was sold in 1934 by Mr. F.B. Atkinson of Newcastle upon Tyne.  The family bought the farm with the help of one of Elizabeth’s brothers.

 

 

The five surviving children all attended Cambo School, and we can find details of their achievements in the school Log Book that is held here in the Archives. From 1904 the children were constant winners of various school prizes, mainly for writing, drawing and attendance.  The image shows a page from the log book which dates from 1894 to 1921.  It shows the two scholarships won by Andrew Buglass in 1908 – the County Council Scholarship and the Trevelyan Scholarship, which he shared with another male pupil.

 

 

Both Andrew and Ralph Buglass went on from Cambo School to attend Rutherford College in Newcastle upon Tyne.  The College Committee were prepared to admit the sons of farmers and farm-workers at nominal fees, and without fees entirely the orphans of farm labourers.  This explains why Andrew and Ralph, who did not come from a family that could obviously afford this sort of education, were able to attend such an institution.  The family may also have been helped by financial assistance received from the scholarships they won at Cambo School.

 

 

Betty, the youngest child, won awards at school for subjects such as sewing.  One of her exercise books is held within the Collection and is full of recipes and traditional cures for illnesses and ailments such as chilblains.  She has also helpfully recorded the cure for a nervous breakdown! As Presbyterians, the children were involved in the Cambo and District Band of Hope temperance organisation for working-class children, which was founded in 1847 in Leeds.  Members took a pledge of total abstinence and the children were taught the ‘evils of drink’, and would attend weekly lectures and activities.

 

 

George seemed to follow in his forefather’s footsteps and was preparing to become a shepherd.  In April 1914 he writes to his father from Shepherd Shield in Wark that he has been delivering lambs and feeding cattle.  This seemingly tranquil traditional lifestyle was to be shattered by the beginning of the war on 4th August 1914, and the subsequent involvement of the family.

This story will be continued in part two of this blog.

 

 

 

 

On the morning of Sunday 13^th August 1916, an explosion ripped through the Main Seam at Woodhorn Colliery.  A party of men working on a ‘repair shift’ were working to set steel girders as roof supports, and as the work was of a special nature, the shift was composed of eight Deputy Overmen, three Stonemen, a Shifter and a Putter.

The men received their instructions in the Low Main Seam at 6am from the Master-shifter, and then proceeded up the drift to the Main Seam.  About half an hour after the men left, the master-shifter was aware that something had happened, and he and others went up the drift.  They found two men alive but unconscious in the drift below the Main Seam workings; the other eleven men had been killed outright by the explosion.

At the inquest held on 12^th, 13^th and 21^st of September at the Harmonic Hall evidence was gathered from witnesses and the result showed that a catalogue of failures at the colliery had made the disaster inevitable.

The air compressor, which sends a current of air into each working, was not at work on the Sunday morning, this was usual practice at the weekends. On the previous Friday night through to Saturday morning the Capell Fan, the ventilating fan for the underground seams had been stopped for overhauling and repairs. A furnace had been lit to draw the current of air but this method is not so effective for ventilation. On Saturday morning, the fan was turned back on to maximum capacity, but by the night shift, steam power to drive the engine was only at fifty percent its normal capacity as the number of firemen required was down by two, instead of four, this was repeated on Sunday morning when another two firemen were absent from the six needed. This drop in ventilation made any gas present, less likely to be safely dispersed.

Up until the explosion, gas had never been seen in this seam. It seems likely that no thorough inspection for gas was made before the shift started; no written records of any reports were found for this shift, or any of the previous working Sundays.

The Jury of the inquest reported its findings in this way:

“That the 13 men whose names have been repeatedly read – the said deceased men were accidentally killed on the 13^th day of August 1916, while working in Woodhorn Colliery by and explosion of gas in the Main Seam, and that such gas had accumulated through want of sufficient ventilation, and exploded through contact with a naked light and before any fall of stone took place. The jury are of the opinion that the management should see in the future that written reposts should be made for every shift, special or otherwise. The jury are also of opinion that there has been a certain amount of laxity on the part of the management for not seeing to sufficient ventilation being maintained”.

Woodhorn Colliery was, even before this time in a state of crisis. The First World War had a massive impact, with 778 men of the 2337 employees leaving Woodhorn Colliery to fight in the conflict. Men were working extra shifts to fill the roles of those fighting and to maximise coal production for the war effort, but this in turn led to illness and absenteeism. Posters issued by the Ashington Coal Company had little effect on absenteeism at any of their collieries and power to prosecute repeated offenders was discussed on 26^th July, prior to the explosion. E. W. Milburn, Manager of Woodhorn was in France fighting with the 7^th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, while the colliery worked under the guidance of J.J. Hall, Agent to the Ashington Coal Company. On 11^th August, two days before the explosion, the Ashington Coal Company reported that an application had been made to the Minister of Munitions for the demobilisation of Major Milburn to return as Manager of Woodhorn Colliery.

 

 

At the Petty Sessions held at Morpeth on 10^th January 1917, charges were brought upon Joseph John Hall, temporary Manager of the Colliery, and Charles Bennett Howe the engine wright, with a failure to provide proper ventilation. The case against both men was dismissed, and the subsequent appeal by the Northumberland Miners Association at the Divisional Bench was also lost.

The Ashington Coal Company was at the time enabling the families of those fighting in the War to stay in their colliery houses; this resulted in fewer houses available to new workers. The Coal Company especially needed the houses of the families of the Deputies who died in the explosion for the new Deputies to move into. As housing was difficult to come by during wartime, wrangling with the families in vacating the houses carried on until the following February, and talk of withholding compensation to the families was mooted by the coal company to force the families out.

 

The Northumberland County Pauper Lunatic Asylum opened on 16 March 1859. Lunatic Asylums were managed by Committees of Visitors appointed by the Quarter Sessions under the Lunacy Act 1845 and were subject to visits by the Commissioners in Lunacy. Situated in Cottingwood, Morpeth, the asylum was a magnificent Victorian building built in the Italian style of red brick with stone dressings. Designed by Henry Welsh, it was originally built to accommodate about 200 male and female patients. In 1890 the asylum was renamed the County Mental Hospital then in 1937, the name was changed to St. George’s Hospital. In 2006, St. Georges Park, a purpose built mental health hospital was built on the old St. George’s site.

In 1901, the architect John Cresswell created a birds eye view plan which gave a 3 dimensional view of the asylum and its grounds. The apartments on the west side were for female inmates while males were situated on the east. Surrounding the buildings were pleasure and kitchen gardens as well as a stone chapel and brewery. The Superintendent was the principal officer of the asylum and was required to be a medical practitioner and legally qualified. The Matron was responsible for all female attendants, servants and female patients and the Clerk/Steward for male patients and male staff.

Early records for the asylum show it to be professionally managed.  All male and female patients had to be kept in separate wards.  No male attendant, servant or patient could enter the female wards, nor any female enter the male wards except in cases where the Superintendent deemed it advisable. The Asylum Rule Book stated the following:

“There be at least one attendant for every ward and that there be not less than one attendant for every 25 patients who are tranquil or convalescent and not less than one attendant for every 12 patients who are dirty, violent, refractory or dangerous to themselves or others. No ward shall be left at any time without an attendant being there and that the attendant be so distributed that in case of need they may readily assist each other.”

 

A booklet entitled Rules of Government for the Pauper Lunatic Asylum 1860 stated that dormitories had to contain no more than 3 beds and had to have a space of at least 2 feet and six inches between them. An attendant had to sleep in an adjoining room and a light was kept on through the night. No patient was to be struck or kept in perpetual restraint or seclusion. If a patient needed to be restrained, it had to be reported to the Superintendent as soon as possible and documented in the Day Book. Visitors were permitted to the asylum once a fortnight. Every visit made by a male relation or friend to a female patient had to have the Matron or female attendant present throughout the entire visit. The booklet also stated that in relation to the death of a patient, the passing had to be firstly reported to the parish officer. The House Steward would then inform one of the nearest relations of the deceased and the body would be delivered to them if requested. If the body was not taken by the fourth day, it was buried under the direction of the Superintendent.

During the day patients of both sexes were employed. Men worked in the garden and were taught trades by Shoemakers, Tailors, Plumbers and Painters. The women worked in the laundry and kitchen and also undertook sewing, knitting and mending work. Reading was encouraged and an ample supply of books and publications of a moral and cheerful nature had to be made available. This was in addition to the bible and prayer books.

 

The Superintendent issued a yearly report commenting on admissions, discharges and deaths. Recommendations were made for improvements to the building and patient care but events and observations were also recorded. The report for 1868 stated that when one woman was admitted she was searched and was found to have on her person money and bankers receipts of upwards of £500. The sum was unknown to her husband or family and was shrouded in mystery. It was noted that every Wednesday evening there was a dance interspersed with songs and on two occasions a conjuring entertainment was kindly provided by Mr Shute, the Assistant Surgeon. In the summer months the men played cricket, bowls, quoits and football while the women played croquet. The patients also enjoyed picnics at the seaside.

The Commissioners in Lunacy also visited the asylum and issued a yearly report. The report for 1867 claimed that the state of the inmates was satisfactory, their person and clothing were very clean and in general their conduct was orderly with nobody in seclusion. On the day of the visit dinner consisted of baked meat, potatoes, bread and beer. The wards were clean and properly ventilated but were said to have a bare appearance. It was noted that a good deal of painting, colouring and papering was required and it was hoped that the most cheerful, light and pleasing colours would be chosen. Space was a major concern and the day rooms were classed as being seriously overcrowded. The report for 1873 commented upon the death of a male patient who had died due to a blow to the head but who was also found to have his breast bone and five ribs fractured. It was never discovered how these injuries were inflicted. A female patient was also mentioned as when out walking with a party of other females she committed suicide by jumping in the river. Due to this incident walks outside of the asylum had been terminated.